Arkansas' Jeff Long backs players' kneeling during anthemFAYETTEVILLE— Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long said the university is backing six women's basketball players who kneeled during the national anthem before an exhibition game Thursday. Players Jordan Danberry, Tatiyana Smith, Kiara Williams, Jailyn Mason, Yasmeen Ratliff and Briunna Freeman, who are all black, locked arms and kneeled as the anthem played and a color guard presented the U.S and Arkansas flags. "Recently you all know that the...

Dallas Cowboys gift for Arkansas police prompts complaintNORTH LITTLE ROCK — A complaint has been filed with the Arkansas Ethics Commission after Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones offered free tickets to any of the team's five remaining home games to North Little Rock uniformed police officers and their families. Jones, who grew up in North Little Rock, is named in the complaint along with Mayor Joe Smith, the city aldermen and the president of the North Little Rock Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No...

Arkansas asks high court to not review execution rulingLITTLE ROCK — Arkansas is asking the nation's highest court to not review a decision upholding the state's lethal injection law, saying the nine death row inmates challenging the ruling have not raised a federal claim in the case. Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge's office on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to deny the inmates' request to review the state Supreme Court's June decision upholding the law, which keeps the source of th...

Investigation of possible Greene County vote fraud requestedSHADY GROVE — A prosecutor has requested an Arkansas State Police investigation of potential voter fraud in the Shady Grove township in Greene County. Attorney Scott Ellington said in a letter to state police that he's received information of possible voter fraud in connection to whether the township should allow the sale of alcohol. The issue is on next week's ballot. The Jonesboro Sun (http://bit.ly/2ei2FjH ) reports that a number of voters ...

4 treated for gunshot wounds after Little Rock shootingLITTLE ROCK — Police in Little Rock say four people were treated for gunshot wounds following a shooting in a residential neighborhood. Investigators say the shooting occurred Tuesday at 10:49 p.m. in southeast Little Rock. Police say the victims were standing in front of a house when an unknown suspect fired at them. The victims were transported to a local hospital for treatment of non-life threatening wounds. They were identified as 29-year-...

St. Francis County to correct ballot mistakeFORREST CITY— The St. Francis County Election Commission has voted to approve several steps to correct a mistake in which some residents of District 49 were given a ballot without the state House representative race listed on it. The commission had received complaints from affected voters, but they believed at the time that the problem was due to confusion over a prior redrawing of the district's boundaries, according to the Times-Herald (http...

State's high court won't reconsider marijuana rulingLITTLE ROCK -- The Arkansas Supreme Court said Thursday that it won't reconsider its decision last week to disqualify a medical marijuana proposal from the ballot after thousands of people had already voted. In a 5-2 decision, the justices denied a petition to rehear the ruling, which blocked state officials from counting any votes cast for the proposal, known as Issue 7. The court last week ruled the campaign behind the measure did not follow...

St. Francis Co. to correct ballot mistakeFORREST CITY -- The St. Francis County Election Commission has voted to approve several steps to correct a mistake in which some residents of District 49 were given a ballot without the state House representative race listed on it. The commission had received complaints from affected voters, but they believed at the time that the problem was due to confusion over a prior redrawing of the district's boundaries, according to the Times-Herald. Co...

Arkansas court hears case over same-sex birth certificatesLITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Supreme Court justices questioned Thursday whether it's up to them or the Legislature to change the state's birth certificate law after gay marriage was legalized nationwide, as they weighed a lawsuit brought by three same-sex couples who wanted both spouses listed as parents. State Solicitor General Lee Rudofsky told justices that a Pulaski County judge went too far last year by striking down part of the state's birth c...

Arkansas court won't reconsider ruling on medical marijuana LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Supreme Court said Thursday that it won't reconsider its decision last week to disqualify a medical marijuana proposal from the ballot after thousands of people had already voted. In a 5-2 decision, the justices denied a petition to rehear the ruling, which blocked state officials from counting any votes cast for the proposal, known as Issue 7. The court last week ruled the campaign behind the measure did not follow ...

Lawsuit: Allow new vote for some on medical pot planLITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A lawsuit says some Arkansas voters who backed a medical marijuana proposal disqualified from the ballot should be allowed a second chance to vote on a competing proposal. Three Arkansas residents asked a federal judge Wednesday to require polls to display a prominent notice that votes won't be counted for the marijuana proposal, known as Issue 7. The state Supreme Court disqualified the measure last week. The suit ask...

Arkansas Senate panel approves schools budget reportLITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Senate Education Committee has approved a report recommending how to spend more than $3 billion on public schools. Legislators voted Tuesday, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/2e1ZIZj ). The recommendation calls for public school funding to be raised by $45.6 million in each of the next two fiscal years. The 2018 fiscal year starts July 1. It also includes a provision for schools to increase m...

Poll shows Arkansas voters split over medical pot planLITTLE ROCK — Arkansas voters were narrowly split over a proposal to legalize medical marijuana before the state Supreme Court disqualified a competing measure from next week's ballot, according to a poll released Wednesday by the University of Arkansas. Forty-nine percent of respondents who identified themselves as likely voters in the annual Arkansas Poll supported Issue 6, which would allow patients with certain medical conditions to buy ma...

UAPB gets state grant to build pedestrian mall on campusPINE BLUFF — The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff has received a $407,000 grant to create a pedestrian mall on campus. The university says the funding from the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department's Transportation Alternatives Program will pay for the first phase of the pedestrian mall project on Kennedy Drive. The school says the improvements are needed to provide safe pedestrian access for people walking from parking area...

Arkansas trooper still recovering from fatal wrong-way crashALMA — An Arkansas State trooper who was seriously injured in a wrong-way vehicle crash says the driver of the other vehicle matched his evasive maneuvers before the collision occurred. State police say Trooper Roy Moomey's car collided with 24-year-old Matthew Choate's vehicle Aug. 8 on Interstate 40 near Alma. Moomey had been responding to a call of a vehicle traveling the in the wrong direction on the interstate and was trying to divert the...

Ex-executives found not guilty in Arkansas bank fraud caseLITTLE ROCK — Two former executives have been found not guilty in Little Rock of federal bank fraud charges related to a 2007 loan. Arkansas Business (http://bit.ly/2faeric ) reports that former One Bank & Trust executives Michael Heald and Bradley Paul were found not guilty on Monday. Heald had been charged with conspiracy, money laundering and two counts of aiding and abetting false entries. Paul faced the same charges plus an additional cha...

Attorney asks Arkansas court to not rehear medical pot caseLITTLE ROCK — A Little Rock attorney who successfully sued to disqualify a medical marijuana initiative says the Arkansas Supreme Court should reject an attempt by supporters of the measure to have it reinstated on the ballot in next week's election. Patrick Benca on Tuesday asked the court to deny the petition for rehearing Arkansans for Compassionate Care has requested over the court's decision blocking officials from counting any votes cast...

Man selling jeans shot outside Clinton presidential libraryLITTLE ROCK — A man selling bluejeans has been shot in the visitors' parking lot of the Clinton Presidential Center in what police say was a robbery. Little Rock Police Public Affairs Officer Lt. Steven McClanahan says three men approached the 19-year-old victim and his cousin Monday evening and at least one of them drew a handgun and fired, striking the victim in the leg. McClanahan says the injury is not life-threatening, and that the victim...

Officer injured attempting to prevent theft of patrol carNORTH LITTLE ROCK — A North Little Rock police officer has been injured while attempting to stop a man from stealing a patrol car. Police say the officer was trying to apprehend a suspect who was allegedly harassing children at a bus stop Tuesday morning. The suspect climbed onto the roof of a storage building near the officer's patrol car, jumped off and got behind the wheel of the cruiser. Police said the officer grabbed onto the passenger s...

Post-election hearing set on Faulkner ex-clerk's eligibilityCONWAY — A Faulkner County circuit judge says election officials must count votes but not immediately certify the results in the race for county clerk after one of the candidates pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge. Judge David Clark said Monday that he didn't want his court "to have a chilling impact on the election." Clark set a hearing for Nov. 9, the day after the election, to determine the eligibility of former county clerk Margaret Da...